AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We cluster in the front hall as he heads into the massive great room with Jayla covering him.
I lock the door and set the alarm. When it doesn’t work, I look up to see a red light flashing. Below it, in my handwriting, a tag readsMAIN BEDROOM.
“Something’s open in our—your bedroom,” Kit says. “The balcony door or a window.”
I shake my head. “The balcony sensor is wonky.” I hit the code again, and that warning light disappears. “See?”
“I’ll get that fixed,” he says.
I open my mouth, the argument reflexive, before Madison’s elbow reminds me this is not the time. I glance at Kit. His expression says his brain is whirring to process the current situation, and heprobably didn’t even register what he said, the reassurance being equally reflexive.
“Clear in here,” Jayla calls back.
“Secure,” I call when the system switches on.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Garrett mutters. “We might as well be standing on the damn lawn.”
I see what he means. That glorious wall of windows completely exposes us to the outside. There’s also the winding staircase with the second-floor hallway overlooking the great room, which attaches to the kitchen and dining area.
I love the openness of Hemlock House, so airy and spacious, with its sweeping views, but now, the open concept means an attack could come from any direction. Having a security system made me feel safe. Now it’s almost laughable.
“We should check the rooms with doors,” I say. “Close them as we go.”
“And this?” Garrett waves at the bank of windows. “Please tell me this fancy house has electronic blinds.”
It doesn’t need them, and that’s another thing I love. At home, with a front sidewalk within spitting distance, my blinds stay closed. Here, I can lounge in my underwear all day.
Right now, those windows are a fishbowl, where anyone out there can see us and we can see only darkness.
“No blinds,” I say.
Garrett gapes at me in exaggerated disbelief.
“It’s a private island,” I say. “We don’t have to worry about neighbors or passersby, and yes, weirdly, we never considered the possibility of having to hide from a killer.”
“The fact that it’s a private island is the very reason you need to worry about that. Aren’t you an author now? What if one of your fans tracks you down?”
“I’m a debut novelist. I’ll worry about that when I actually have fans. Speaking of my job, I’m going to start the search with my office.”
“Kit can go with you,” Madison says. “Jayla and I will secure the laundry room. Asshole Cop Dude can take the bathroom. He should be able to handle that alone.”
“My name is Garrett, kiddo.”
“And when you stop acting like an asshole cop, I’ll use it.”
“Search the rooms and shut the doors,” I say. “We’ll reconvene back here and then tackle the second level.”
There’s no one on the main level. We shut off all the rooms, and then head upstairs. Kit and I will take the room Sadie used. Jayla and Garrett already searched it. Time for fresh eyes.
I’d been distracted during the room assignments. Otherwise, I’d have realized there was no way Sadie snuck in with Kit… because he was sharing the twin-bed room with Garrett. Jayla had volunteered for the green room, which may prove that, like me, she can’t help still caring a little about our former friend, however unwittingly. Putting Sadie in the green room—the site of the bloody-scratches closet—would be a shit move. Jayla took it instead.
That left Sadie with Madison’s room. It’s not just the room Madison uses while she’s here. It’s actually hers and has been since Hemlock House was lines on a sketch pad.
“Mads should have her pick of the guest rooms,” Kit had said. “Let her choose it and get her input and make it really hers.”
That may have been the moment when I realized I loved him. Yes, I suppose that should have come before I said “I do.” When I stepped into the wedding chapel, I knew I was falling for him, but it wasn’t until that moment that the feeling solidified into something that felt like forever.
At that time, Anna’s prognosis had been good, and Madison was just my thirteen-year-old niece. That wasn’t someone you typically give her own bedroom in your new vacation home. But Kit understood the role Madison played in my life. She would be a regularvisitor at Hemlock House, and he acknowledged that as if it was never in question.
